AUBURN HILLS — Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars saw first-round pick Kentavious Caldwell-Pope play in person when Georgia played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as part of the Progressive Legends Classic early in the season.

Dumars walked away impressed, but it’s what Caldwell-Pope did from that point on that ultimately led to him being drafted by the Pistons.

“I’m remember looking at him and saying, ‘Wow, what a nice young wing athlete. He’s okay,’ ” Dumars said. “But then I tracked him all year, and all year he started playing better, once he got to SEC play, he was off the charts there. We started locking in on him and saying, ‘Just the type of athlete we don’t have on our team.’ He became a target for us late in the college season. We just kind of locked in on him and some of the other wing guys.”

The Pistons lack athletic guys on the perimeter and shooting, two of Caldwell-Pope’s strengths. What Detroit does in free agency and trades is yet to be determined, but the way the roster is currently constructed, Caldwell-Pope has a chance to contribute right away.

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“I do think it’s a perfect fit,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Just playing alongside Brandon Knight and the other players is going to be good. I bring a lot. I can shoot the ball and I’m athletic. I can also defend around the perimeter. I can just bring a lot to the team.”

Caldwell-Pope comes to the Pistons mentally tough after suffering through two losing seasons at Georgia. Dumars liked the fact Caldwell-Pope didn’t take any nights off even though he was playing for a bad team.

Caldwell-Pope said his effort on the floor stems from his love of the game.

“I love the game of basketball,” Caldwell-Pope said. “It don’t matter if we’re losing or whatever, I’m going to bring it every night. That’s just the passion for the game I have. I’m going to give it a 100 percent every night.”

Not many “draft experts” had Caldwell-Pope going to Detroit and that was in part by design. The Pistons kept their meeting with Caldwell-Pope two days before the draft a secret because they didn’t want any teams behind them attempting to trade up.

“It’s always in your best interest to keep things close to your vest,” Dumars said of the secret meeting. “It’s always in your best interest not to divulge too much. We knew the guys we liked in this draft. We knew the priority we had him and when you’re doing this, it’s just best not to tip your hands to exactly what you’re thinking. We certainly did that with Kentavious. We knew that we liked him. We knew he was one of the few guys that we liked and if we had an opportunity to select him then we were going to.”

Caldwell-Pope went to dinner with Dumars and his staff and also toured the practice facility. Caldwell-Pope left the visit with a feeling him might be back.

“I kind of had a sense I would be back,” Caldwell-Pope said. “When I came here, we went out to eat dinner, they showed me around the facility. I went up to the office. I met most of the staff that was here. We sat down in Joe’s office and we talked a little more. Him telling me they really like me and they are really considering picking me. It was an honor and them selecting me was just a blessing.”

Mitchell learns from meeting

The Pistons also picked up North Texas’ Tony Mitchell and Lousiville’s Peyton Siva in the second round of Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Mitchell had a memorable meeting with the Pistons at the pre-draft camp in Chicago and said he took what they said to heart during the entire draft process.

“Joe and his staff grilled me in Chicago,” Mitchell said. “It was just about my season last year. Joe just asked me why I didn’t play harder some possessions. He taught me something to be honest with you. Regardless if you don’t make shots or you’re team’s not winning, you have to compete. I just took that with me from that day forward.”

Irony not lost on Siva

Siva coming to the Pistons comes with a bit of irony. Detroit had the chance to select hometown favorite Trey Burke of Michigan in the first round, but passed on Burke and later selected Siva, whose Louisville Cardinals beat Michigan in the National Championship game.

Siva didn’t realize the irony of him coming to Detroit until he took a walk around.